ALLENDALE, Mich. — Missouri S&T Baseball fell 7-6 in today's opening game of the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional, with a ninth-inning rally coming up short. Starting pitcher Dylan Bates (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) provided a marathon performance, throwing 142 pitches in 8.0 innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out seven.
Bates worked around a first-inning double, stranding the runner with a three-pitch strikeout to end the frame. Missouri S&T threatened in the bottom half as Bricen Smith (Perry, GA/Mount de Sales Academy) and Nick Krodinger (DeSoto, MO/DeSoto) each singled and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, but Davenport starter Easton Remick escaped the jam to keep the game scoreless.
The Miners broke through in the second. Will Beckham (Mountain Home, AR/Mountain Home) roped a double to left to bring home Aiden Cizek (Wildwood, MO/Lafayette) for the first run of the contest. Singles from Keaton Scott (Hannibal, MO/Hannibal) and Will Muench (Wentzville, MO/Timberland) helped plate another run, and Smith added a sacrifice fly later in the inning as Missouri S&T grabbed a 3-0 lead.
Bates settled in early, tossing back-to-back hitless innings and allowing just one baserunner through the second and third. Davenport found momentum in the fourth, however, stringing together five hits and capitalizing on a pair of Miner miscues to score seven runs. Six of the Panthers' seven runs in the inning were unearned.
The right-hander bounced back in impressive fashion, retiring 12 of the next 13 batters he faced while striking out three and keeping Davenport off the board the rest of the way, tossing four more hitless innings. Bates finished with 8.0 innings pitched and seven strikeouts in a strong outing for Missouri S&T.
The Miners continued to pressure offensively in the middle innings, collecting multiple singles and a double from the fourth through seventh. Garrett Meyer (Jacksonville, IL/Jacksonville) opened the eighth with a double and later came around to score on a Caleb Horsey (Springdale, AR/Springdale) RBI groundout to cut into the deficit.
Zander Street (Festus, MO/St. Pius X) handled the ninth inning cleanly, retiring the side to give Missouri S&T one last chance in the bottom of the frame trailing 7-4.
Smith started the rally with a leadoff single, but Davenport recorded two quick outs to move within one of the win. Denton Damgaard (Colorado Springs, CO/Cheyenne Mountain HS) and Cizek followed with singles to load the bases before Jackson Evans (Overland Park, KS/Olathe North) lined an RBI single to left to make it 7-5. Tyler Bizzle (Festus, MO/Festus) then brought home another run after being hit by a pitch, trimming the deficit to one. With the tying and winning runs on base, Muench nearly chopped a single through the left side, but a leaping stop and strong throw from the Davenport shortstop ended the comeback bid and sealed a 7-6 win for the Panthers.
What's Next
The Miners remain alive in the regional and move to the losers bracket in the Midwest, set to play the loser of today's No. 1 Grand Valley State and No. 8 Kentucky Wesleyan.
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